After selecting his techniques, Zhou Qing immediately returned to his cave abode.
Then, the main body of Wu Xian's clone left the cave-heaven treasure.
At that moment, he took out a bottle of immortal pills contributed by Shaoyan Chou, opened it, and swallowed them all in one gulp. Using the method from the "Immortal Golden Body," he began refining the violent energy inside him.
Under the tempering of this powerful energy, his bones, muscles, skin, and fur all underwent a fundamental transformation.
A moment later, Zhou Qing felt the strength of Wu Xian's main body and couldn't help smiling.
The first layer of the "Immortal Golden Body" was complete!
His divine body was already comparable to a Pure Yang magic treasure.
The next moment, he concentrated third-layer Heartforce on the index finger of his right hand, then slashed it fiercely across his left arm.
Under this strike, which was comparable to that of a top Celestial Immortal, his left arm was completely unharmed, without a single mark.
Next, instead of using fourth-layer Heartforce, Zhou Qing concentrated second-layer Space Power on the index finger of his right hand and slashed at his left arm again.
This time, under a strike comparable to that of an ordinary Empyrean God True Immortal, a single white mark appeared on his left arm, but it quickly disappeared.
Seeing this, Zhou Qing nodded in satisfaction.
While Zhou Qing cultivated the "Immortal Golden Body," the Heavenly Emperor was also sitting at his desk in High Heaven Palace, deep in thought.
"Taibai Jinxing."
After a long while, as if he had made some difficult decision, he suddenly spoke.
"Your Majesty, I am here."
An old white-haired man with an immortal bearing hurried forward.
He was none other than the Heavenly Emperor's trusted aide, Taibai Jinxing, also known as Star Lord Taibai Tianhao of Western Metal Virtue.
Of course, he was certainly not the Taibai Jinxing of ancient times, Li Changgeng.
That Star Lord was also a Pure Yang powerhouse; he would not have been so humble before the Heavenly Emperor.
Like many other immortals and gods, Li Changgeng had fallen during the ancient destruction.
"Draft an imperial edict for Us," the Heavenly Emperor ordered.
"The Netherworld is a vital realm, and only one of great virtue and might can hold it in check. True Immortal Taixu, disciple of the Three Pure Ones, follows Heaven's will and upholds the Great Dao, his achievements renowned throughout the heavens. We hereby appoint you Emperor of Fengdu, the Northern Yin Heaven, Vanquisher of Demons, to govern the Netherworld, hold the Book of Life and Death, and command the Yama Kings of the Ten Courts. You shall judge the retribution for good and evil; you shall preside over the Six Paths of Reincarnation. We trust you to uphold the law like a mountain, neither showing favoritism nor condemning the innocent, honoring Heaven's will above and bringing peace to the spirits below."
As the Heavenly Emperor spoke, Taibai Jinxing wrote rapidly.
But when he heard that the Heavenly Emperor intended to appoint Zhou Qing as Great Emperor of Fengdu, he suddenly stopped writing.
"Hmm?" The Heavenly Emperor frowned at this. "My esteemed minister, do you have any objection?"
After gathering his thoughts, Taibai Jinxing said, "Your Majesty, the post of Great Emperor of Fengdu has been vacant ever since the ancient destruction."
"If Heaven's Court appoints someone to it without permission, will it provoke objections from the Buddhist and Daoist Sects, or even the Human Race?"
"You should know that True Immortal Taixu is not human."
"Heh..." The Heavenly Emperor merely sneered at Taibai Jinxing's words.
"True Immortal Taixu is the Old Lord's disciple. The Daoist Sect will only be glad to see this happen."
"As for the Buddhist Sangha and the Human Race, We are merely appointing an Emperor. We have not stripped them of their authority in the Netherworld Bureau. Even if they object, given the immortal Taixu's status as a Dao Ancestor's disciple, they will not go too far."
Though he spoke lightly, the Heavenly Emperor couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Being the Heavenly Emperor was truly stifling.
Heaven's Court seemed to rule the Three Realms, yet it was hemmed in by countless powerful beings.
The hundreds of True God Dao Ancestors across the Three Realms had countless disciples and followers, each one arrogant and unruly, refusing to submit to Heaven's Court.
What gave him the biggest headache was that whenever these powerful beings' disciples achieved success in their cultivation, they would imitate the famed Great Sage Equal to Heaven of ancient times and come to Heaven's Court to raise a ruckus.
One could say that any disciple of a True God Dao Ancestor could stand on Heaven's Court's head and take a shit.
For endless ages, he had endured humiliation and balanced the interests of every side, managing to make Heaven's Court look more or less respectable.
But the Heavenly Emperor knew this was nothing but an illusion. The moment he reached into the private domains of those powerful beings, this warm and harmonious facade would be shattered at once.
Being driven from his position as ruler of the Three Realms would be a small matter. But if he were killed outright, like his predecessor, the Jade Emperor Haotian, that would be a truly bitter fate.
It was precisely because he feared someone would take his precious head that the Heavenly Emperor had spared no effort to win Zhou Qing over.
He knew that although the Dao Ancestors ostensibly governed the Three Realms, the ones whose words truly carried weight were the few leading powerhouses.
They were the Three Sovereigns of the Human Race-Suiren, Shennong, and Fuxi-the leaders of the Daoist Sect, the Daoists Sanqing, and the leader of the Buddhist Sangha, Buddha Tathagata: five powerful beings in all.
If he could win over Zhou Qing, a disciple of the Daoist Sect's leader, then should a True God Dao Ancestor's disciple come to provoke Heaven's Court, he would have a little more confidence in dealing with them.
Besides, by trying to win Zhou Qing over with a title like Great Emperor of Fengdu, a position with a grand name but no real authority, he had little to lose even if it didn't work.
At this thought, the Heavenly Emperor suddenly gave another order. "Taibai Jinxing, pass down the word: appoint the imperial daughter Zhang Xuanshu as Primordial Lady Suhua of the Nine Heavens, and grant her an immortal stipend equal to the eldest princess's."
As Taibai Jinxing recorded the order, he marveled inwardly at how much the Heavenly Emperor valued True Immortal Taixu.
The Heavenly Emperor's children generally had to survive a Heavenly Tribulation and become Celestial Immortals before they could receive a title.
As for the eldest princess, she was the Heavenly Emperor's first child, born when he was still mortal, and had always been his most beloved.
Raising Zhang Xuanshu's immortal stipend to the eldest princess's level was enough to prove the Heavenly Emperor's favor.
The Heavenly Emperor did this, naturally, to show Zhou Qing goodwill.
Although he didn't believe that this small gesture would make Zhou Qing feel much gratitude, it was still worthwhile if it could make him look upon Heaven's Court and the Heavenly Emperor more favorably.
Back to Zhou Qing.
After finishing his cultivation of the protective divine ability, Zhou Qing was reading the three texts concerning Space Power.
All three texts had been left behind by powerhouses who had reached the fifth layer of Space Power, but each focused on a different aspect.
"Void Evasion" mainly concerned the art of traversing the void; "Dark World" focused on the Dao of Worlds; and "Void Great Destruction" mainly explained the Dao of spatial annihilation.
The Zhou Qing in the earlier simulation had followed the same path as "Void Great Destruction."
In other words, the ultimate techniques he had once studied-the Space-Rending Claw, Sky Rend Claw, Heaven-Trapping Claw, Heaven-Severing Claw, Heaven-Slaughtering Claw, and Heaven-Exterminating Claw-all related to the Dao of spatial annihilation.
Of course, because he had mastered Grand Teleportation, he had also dabbled in traversing the void.
After reading these texts on the Path of Space, Zhou Qing realized that his understanding of it was still far too shallow.
If he wanted to go further in the future, he had to develop every branch of the Path of Space in a balanced way.
So he made a decision: for a long time to come, his main focus would be on comprehending the Dao of Worlds, which he had never studied before.